ABOUT US

CHRISTOPHER WIEDEMAN

I was first introduced to Rock Climbing by Troop 601 of the Boy Scouts in the 80s. We went to Clifton Gorge back in the day when the walls there were still open to climbing.

After getting out of the Navy, my brother and I began teaching ourselves to climb at the Eden Park reservoir wall and Climb Time Cincinnati. We had intentions to climb Devils Tower back in ’97 but had to abort the mission (brothers!).

The next year we did our first Trad accent at Looking Glass Rock in North Carolina. We finally returned to The Tower and topped out in 2017 on the Durrance route. This experience was the catalyst for developing Cincinnati Rocks. I tend to spend the vast majority of my free time and vacations in the great outdoors. I have a love of climbing, backpacking, camping, canoeing and hiking. And I’m excited to provide a fresh location for new generations of climbers. It will be rewarding to provide an urban venue for the sport.

Our vision will create a convenient location for existing climbers to improve their skill as well as provide a place of community for those interested in the sport. Our gym will provide a recreational opportunity to folks who may never set foot at the base of a natural cliff – and hopefully inspire them to do so!

JOE WIEDEMAN

My first experience rock climbing was in the early 90's, I went to Climb Time with my brother and had a blast wearing myself out on 5.5's and wondering how those guys (it was 99.9999% guys back then) could hang upside down so long on the bouldering wall. We soon began climbing on toprope at the Eden Park reservoir (you needed a permit in those days!) and progressed to bolted routes at Red River Gorge before moving on to some of the short trad routes there.

Next came a major climbing disappointment, an aborted attempt on Devil's Tower nearly 20 years ago – three of us had been together for too long backpacking and driving across the country in a tiny little Geo Metro hatchback. An argument at the base of the climb made tempers flare and caused us to bail. I started saying I wanted to go back and try again almost immediately.

A trip to Looking Glass Rock in North Carolina got me hooked on multi pitch routes and being way up in the air! Being up there with the birds made me want to start doing as many long routes as I could.

Lots of years passed with occasional trips to RRG, a trip with some climbing in New England, and lots of gym climbing. Then, out of the blue, my brother Chris decided it was time to revisit our failure on Devil's Tower. With some expert guidance, a little crack-climbing preparation, and lots of grunting in the off widths we succeeded and the climbing flame was rekindled in me big time!

Over the years I had toyed with the idea of building my own climbing gym and began putting serious work into the plan a year or so before our Devil's Tower trip, our success there was a major catalyst for the gym project. With this gym we hope to be able to introduce lots of people to this awesome sport, it would be fantastic to inspire folks who might otherwise never make it into the woods to go out looking for something to climb!

Along the way, I'm looking forward to meeting more of the people who make up our climbing community and sharing my enthusiasm for this great sport.